Paul Murray LiveTrump ramps up his anti-Zelensky rhetoiris as tensions rise, US Secret Service shoots an armed man near the White House. Plus, Anthony Albanese accuses insurers of ripping off Australians.
From the Skying Center. This is Paul Burray Live today. Nice to be back in the man cave.
It is water tight, it is warm, but it is still a rough night for some people in Queensland.
Thank you so much for watching us.
A lot to get to on the show tonight, including the Prime Minister. Well the polls may suggest has he bottomed out? Has he made a turn? We talk about that in a moment or Tuesday time. There's also a whole collection of other things we'll get to this evening and we'll do all of the politics in a moment or two time. But back to a normal show tonight. But how do I not start with what I have been in the middle of for the past few days, just the latest update. We're not going to go on and on about it, but I want to make sure that the people in southeast Queensland and now increasingly regional Queensland know that we can see them, even though some of the intensity of the media attention is going to go in the next couple of days. The worry for the majority of the population today was flooding in and around Brisbane at this stage, as best as I can work out, minor but that was the worry of the Premier today.
I want to reflect on the impacted Risbone because I know some intense rainfall throughout the night did see some flash flooding in some of those areas. Major flood warnings are in place for the Albert and Logan rivers. Dow knocks have occurred in these areas and it is crucial because telecommunications remains a challenge in some parts of this area.
Being clean up in and around Harvey Bay after their situation of a couple of hundred mills falling in just a few hours. Looking at the rain radar right now, it is intensifying to the west as the basically, if I can draw a circle here from Theodore in the north which is inland way inland, but basically from say Bunderberg down and around to Roma over across maybe to King Arroy and yeah up in Montop sort of up in the top right hand corner. It is hard, heavy and moving its way across and that will have its own issues the next oft the wall. Here is the latest on skyonies weather about what the next twenty four hours looks like in the mighty state of Queensland.
Over the next twenty four hours, while we are still dealing with rainfall. You can see it's moving to the south, so it is continuing to push out of Brisbane and well into.
New South Wales.
What this means for your Tuesday again, the system could produce still isolated periods of heavy rainfall and the threat for thunderstorms remains in the mix.
In New South Wales.
Yeah, there is still some flooding in some areas, but fingers crossed, this thing is starting to fall away. But that doesn't mean that there aren't worries. For their premiere today, I.
Want to make it clear that we're not out of the woods yet.
We're watching very closely the river systems in the northern rivers.
There's still a lot of.
Rain out there.
There's still a lot of full rivers, swollen rivers.
And the Prime Minister was definitely not campaigning today. Anthony Abernezi was definitely not trying to get on television today. He definitely had vital and important pieces of information that was breaking news from coast to coast. He was definitely not campaigning.
This has been a difficult period, but we are seeing it through and we are seeing it through together as a community, as Australians. Showing who we are. We're a resilient bunch and we deal with hardship, vital.
And important up to the minute information from the Prime Minister who's definitely not just trying to keep his head on television in that seat in northern New South Wales that the Labor Party has always looked to win but currently the National Party has and he's definitely not trying to do the same when it comes to Southeast Coinsland. As for the thousands of homes that have been reconnected, and after a weekend of no power, there has been quite a few happy faces in and around. There are still tens of thousands of homes that do not have the power. But when the power comes back.
On your suburban, by the look of it, I think this is either cool and gatter or tweed heeads.
But everyone has the same reaction when the power comes on after a couple of days.
How good is this? I love that moment? All right?
May there be many more smiles and cheese in the next few days. Obviously, the twenty four to seven coverage is on Sky News whether make sure the homepage is sky news dot com dot Au. As part of the Prime Minister definitely not campaigning today, he decided to go after the insurance companies. Now, there are always, and I mean always, huge deficiencies in the way that insurance companies react to these situations. People have to go through a long and bureaucratic process because these companies they don't want to pay out.
Why because that's the whole point to their business.
Remember, the whole point of the insurance business is to bet that you will not need to claim anything from them in any twelve month period. When that number goes up, their profits go down and their share price may will be affected. But the Prime Minister, again definitely not campaigning today, was saying pretty populist stuff regarding insurance companies.
Insurance companies have plenty of money. They are ripping us off. They have put their premiums up double inflation.
What do you say to that.
I say that Kosh is right and we will certainly hold the insurance companies to account. This is a time where they need to do a bit of repair of their relationships with the Australian public by doing the right thing and making payments immediately.
For people who are eligible. That's what people expect.
Definitely not campaigning vital news information from the Prime Minister today that could not be from Camber. It had to be delivered from the tropical cyclone zone. The problem is the Prime Minister pretends he is powerless in this situation. Now, if he believes that the insurance industry is ripping people off, then why doesn't he change the law. Parliament will be coming back for the budget, but there will be a few days in and around it where if they want to pass a law, they can pass a law. They can change the insurance system to make sure that the t's and c's are only an a four piece of paper.
But of course the truth.
Is that these companies and this area is big, it's complicated, and any major changes that force more payments, and there should be people getting paid when it comes to insurance. But the more they pay out, the higher they charge. And one of the things that has been shoving inflation through the roof. One of the things that this government can't hide behind when it comes to pretending that they've helped with the cost of living that I've been talking about for years is insurance. Now, the reality of our country is twenty seven million people.
There is only so many people who.
Share the overall financial burden when it comes to insurance because the cost of it keeps going up, it's fewer people and obviously kids aren't having insurance, and now we're in a scenario ware. Some of the people who absolutely need it can't afford it. At one point six million people are in a scenario ware to get through the day, to pay for the rent, to pay for the mortgage, to pay for all of the stuff. The Prime Minister says, doesn't matter because we've definitely changed the subject. Look at me over here, not complainant, not campaigning, not at all. Those people have had to choose, and when it goes wrong and you bet against mother nature, you end up being in a world of pain, either being uninsured or underinsured. So tonight on the show, a little bit later, I'm going to have to talk to somebody about how can we put a handbrake on an insurance company to make sure that their threshold for payment is lower, that the cost of premiums don't go through the roof, and what the Federal Parliament could do as soon as tomorrow if they really cared about that situation. But of course they're just definitely not campaigning. And when the parliament does resume, of course it is going to be about that federal budget.
Now.
My bet is they're going to find some way to get to a surplus because they can say, look at how many.
Surpluses we have.
Yet the reality is that the country has been in a household level in a recession for two years. Most of the jobs are paid for by government. This is the Labor Party trick to create that triangle where you're either dependent on welfare, you're dependent because you work for them, or your business is dependent on government because they are the biggest buyer. They will not hold back because it's an election budget and expect another version of twenty five dollars a month, which sounds like a very big number when you add every house together, but in reality twenty five dollars a month being paid to power companies to deliver the Prime ministers lie from the last election about a reduction in power priceis when the reality of his time in office has been an increase in power prices. But it cannot go without saying that today is a day that has pucket a few people in the political world in and around the newspoll it came out today, Now it looks like we are headed for a minority government.
That becomes now clearer which.
Minority government, Well, we can get into that in a second.
As you know, it is a two.
Party preferred at the moment of fifty one to forty nine, So basically, in a statistical era, it could be Labor up fifty one, it could be the Coalition of fifty three or down to forty seven. So we're in a very tight area right now. But if that newspoll was the election, Labor loses seven seats. They're currently on seventy eight seats, so that would take them to seventy one seats, the Liberal Party sixty five. It'd be the Labor Party, even though the Coalition leads on two pointy preferred who would end up forming a minority government. But there is something that I did want to note, which is there's a confusing sub message, which is not me blaming the Polster. It's just there are two results that don't quite match.
At the moment.
Literally two weeks ago, one of the sub questions, apart from who we are going to vote for, was does this government deserve to be re elected or is it time to give somebody else a go? It produced headlines like the majority in the mood for a change. In fact, only thirty four percent of people told Newspoll two weeks ago that the government deserved to be re elected. Fifty three percent say give someone else a go. But what we have learned today is that apparently a majority of people don't think that the opposition in the same pole are ready to form government. But before you think I'm going all Derman gloom here there is a huge opportunity which has been presented by the Prime Minister putting a budget on the table. Now, yes, that means another week of grim GM, another couple of weeks of them previewing.
And leaking and ruling in and not ruling in.
But then after the Tuesday night, when the budget is delivered, there is an opportunity for a nationally telecast thirty minutes uninterrupted speech to be given by Peter Dutton. It will be the most significant speech of his time as opposition later because he's able to make the case uninterrupted both here and on Taxpayer TV about his vision for the country.
Now.
When he gave this speech last year, he dropped this idea in the middle of the speech. Most of the media ignored it. We did not because we knew this would be a winner.
The Coalition can free up almost forty thousand additional homes in the first year and well over one hundred thousand homes in the first five years. First, we will implement a two year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents purchasing existing homes in Australia.
That was in that speech from last year. There has to, of course be big things in there about the economic gender, but that is a values based principle that polling has shown us many months after, and we know the government's trying to do some version of a copy, but that has the support of seventy three percent of people in marginal electorates seventy three percent support and that's what I've highlighted.
Therefore, you in the bottom left hand corner, sixty two percent of workers agree.
On a ban on Dutton span on foreign ownership, seventy nine percent of his own voters, even fifty eight percent of Green's voters overall sixty nine but in those most marginal seats seventy three percent. So yes, you're going to think it's all about the government saving its backside. Well as Peter Dutton showed in a speech the same speech last year, you can come up with an idea that almost three quarters of people agree with and can become a major stepping stone. Remember where the polls have gone in the past twelve months. We will all watch it very closely together. Which brings us to the issue of the Donald the great Man. Right now now, Donald Trump believes that tariff's is one of the most beautiful words in the world. And this week Australia will ultimately find out if we will be treated like the worst of enemies or the best of friends, whether we will or won't get a exemption from these significant prices that will be and taxes that will be put on the importation of Australian steel to the United States. Trump has made that clear and at this point in time there is no sign whatsoever of him bending now. At the time, you remember, I wasn't going to buy into this as a potential failure of the current leadership, failing to put a relationship in place since before the last election or between that period of time of November to January. But today the Prime Minister seems to believe that nothing else can be done, that despite the fact that he had every opportunity to go and visit in between November and January. No, no, no, we're just going to sit back and say too hard basket.
I've said before, I'm not going to give a running commentary on a daily basis of President Trump's comments.
How worried are you? An exemption for Australia is now off the table.
I'm focused on this issue, will continue to put our case to our friends in the United States.
But of course we have the greatest representative of all time, the greatest, the man who wanted to run the United Nations, who is our ambassador there, that of course being the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. And as best as we can work out, the closest that he has had to a meeting with the President of the United States stalking him at a golf club. The only person who's actually had that sort of face to FaceTime is the former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who's been New Year's Eve at Mari Lago.
Now, remember when.
Officials last week were asked about the contact between the President and the former Prime Minister Rudd.
This was their answer about tell us more about this golf club meeting.
When did ambassadrud meet President Trump?
We said we tap that on leaders?
Okay, is that an answer that could be provided reasonably quickly as quickly as we can?
Thank you. I'm grateful for that.
Can you say where the meeting was?
Well?
I refer to previous answers, Simon.
Then trigger warning, trigger warning, I'm about to talk about a political ghost. We don't believe in ghosts on this program. But the political ghost is back in the headlines again. Why because what Donald Trump has truly he thought of the former prime minister is now yet again out in public. Because of course, the former Prime minister, not happy with finding a way to turn up on friendly media in Australia, is trying to make a play to be interviewed worldwide as an anti trumpster that we know him to be.
Here's some of the back and forth.
Malcolm Turnbull, he says, who was always leading that wonderful country from behind, never understood what was going on in China, nor did he have the capacity to do so. I always thought he was a weak and ineffective leader. And obviously Australians agreed with me.
Yeah, because remember the man who before Anthony Obernezi had considered himself to be the greatest Prime minister of all time, was not just somebody who turned a major series of like I think it was ninety seats in the Parliament when it was Tony Abbott. But then of course he had to have his turn because he was the rightful leader. He of course when on the eight week campaign he was produced to just a one seat majority, and then of course he was removed by his own party because remember the Labor Party wouldn't even help him when it came to his versions of solutions for climate change. And now the Liberal Party has been torn apart and torn Asunday ever since, simply because the rightful leader that is Malcolm Turnbull is no longer there. So Malcolm Turnbull was back in a happy place on Taxpayer TV, despite the fact that I remember him being very heavily involved with the managing director and a lot of problems with the ABC. But no know, it's still leather Jack, Malcolm leather Jack and Malcolm Turnbull, and he was being interviewed tonight about the situation. He simply believes that it's time for a world leader like himself to stand up and call a bully a bully.
China will take advantage of Trump's chaotic behavior and his harassing and bullying seeking to extort allies. All of this erratic behavior will be taken advantage of by China, because what China will do is they will say they'll be the opposite of Trump. Where Trump is erratic, they'll be consistent. Where Trump is rude and abusive, as you saw in that tweet, they'll be respectful. We cannot continue this bipartisan gas lighting that is going on at the moment where there are these massive changes in Washington affecting US and the whole world. I mean, look at the extraordinary treatment of Canada, efforts to basically cripple Canada's economy in order to bully them into becoming the fifty first state.
I don't remember that former Prime minister standing up and defending Australia when it was standing up to China, when Australia was saying, no, we need some answers about a global pandemic that locked many of our cities down for months, Melbourne for the longest in the world. Resulted in many hundreds of deaths during those lockdowns, thousand cents millions around the world. No, No, No, the time to come out, the time to be interviewed by the person who thought Russia, Russia, Russia about Trump the first time around is that he thinks we need to stand up and not be bullied by not China that bullied Australia. No, No, the time to speak is when America is bullying China. Fed this anyway, watch him be loved for the next few days and all of the lefty parts of the media who anyway, Now youth crime, let's get away from politics for a second here. It is a huge problem, has been for a long time and is getting worse, particularly in regional Australia. I know it every time we go to any of the ourtown locations. It's part of the picture. Of course, we try to talk about the positive, but it's what people will talk about.
In the streets.
Remember we went to Woomba to focus on the issues that were happening in Queensland. They continue to this day, but thankfully change of government, change of attitude. Well in New South Wales, particularly around the city of more Rea, which I have been to, we've done a show for them and there are plenty of mates who were there. Well, they've had their problems when it comes to youth crime, and I've got to say I feel obviously for victims, but I feel for the police as well, because the police are turning up, they are arresting these people over and over again, but they end up going into a court system that seems to not just give the benefit of the doubt, but basically a blank check for these people to go out and do it again and again. Sunday Telegraph had an amazing story this weekend in New South Wales, which was that a judge just keeps letting one person out over and over again, no matter how long the list is, despite the fact that they had been accused during their criminal career of home invasions, assaults, being held at knife point, having their cars stolen. But he gets bail, and bail and bail. He's been bailed for the fourth time. The judge says that she had a high degree of confidence that he would not reoffend.
You're kidding me.
So the police, through their union, the Police Association in New South Wales, is pushing back against some of the idiocy that he's coming from the bench. The Police Association in New South Wales is dumbfounded by the bad decision of the News of Old Supreme Court. The police are bound by a charter of victim rights and their oath of office. However, they seem to be only part of the judicial system that even considers the victim. Who is looking after the rights of the victim? Says the News of US Police Association president Kevin Morten, and he's correct. What a ridiculous situation. Now, You and I would know that if it was our kid, or if it was us when we were kids, who was involved in just any one of those things, that you would have been either slotted or weekend.
Detention or home detention.
But for some reason there is a cadre and I don't want to say kids because they do very old crimes, but teenagers who for whatever sob story that they serve up again and again and again and again and again. You would think that when you have committed something like that or accused of it once.
They throw the book at you.
But we have a system that does not care, some parts of the system that do not care about the victims, the victims whose lives are changed forever. Instead, the entire process does not revolve around the victim of the crime and making sure that the perpetrator of the crime is held responsible. Instead the whole system is about why did you do it? Can we take any points off because of who you are, how you live. It's absolutely ridiculous and sadly it's a situation that we know we'll continue on into the future. To the men and women of the police force. But you're the most junior constable all the way up the ladder who's doing the work all day, every day to lock these bastards up. Thank you, Thank you for what you do. And I know it's heartbreaking that you've got to do it again and again and again and again and over.
And over and over.
But strength to your arm, and thank you for what you do each and every day. You would have heard by now that the moment that brought Sydney to a standstill, the idea that a caravan full of explosives was apparently on its way towards parts of the Jewish community, with a potential blast radius of tens of medias potentially hundreds of casualties. Well, I'm not going to say that it's a hoax, because the caravan was there and the explosives were there, but there wasn't a detonator, and there was some details that were inside it, but apparently all of it was some sort of a distraction con job from organized criminals trying to save their own backside, either from crimes they had already committed in this area or from something else. Very weird story today, but here's the police talking about it today.
I can reveal that the caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event, but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit.
This is weird.
There's plenty more in this one, but of course watch people use this as a way of saying, well, all the other stuff that doesn't matter, it doesn't matter now.
Please.
As for the investigation and the many people who they spoke to today.
Explain why nobody's been arrestingly charged for the.
Positive box yet, what I can say to that is that forms part of our ongoing investigation, so we still have investigative strategies in play, so I won't go into any more.
Detail around that, all right, And just quickly before we get into everything here, including that conversation about insurance and the day's politics with none other than the great Man Canavan in a moment or two's time. Is a little more about how delusion all the Democrats are. They can't even work out if they can pretend that they are starting to get wins against Donald Trump. Let me show you something, which is the person who, if a couple of seats changed in the lower House of their parliament, would become the next Speaker of the House and essentially would be able to block any of the attempts to change the laws. A bloke called Hakeem Jeffreys. This is what he is trying to say to pump up the confidence that they've got the Donald on the run.
We have the Republicans on the run on three core issues. They are on the run in terms of the economy. In fact, Donald Trump and Republicans are crashing the economy in real time.
Now, that's what they want to tell them while they're doing videos for the Democratic Party. Hence a little d in the corner there. Well, the person who did the response to the Trump speech last week, which was basically a state of the Union, she has a slightly different view about how awesome everything is for the opposition.
I don't think it's a secret that Democrats have been on their heels since Trump won the election, right, I don't think that's something hidden, and I think it's on us to be clear about not only leadership and there's lots of leaders in both, but also a strategy, which.
I'm not totally sure they have.
They still think that the TikTok videos, remember it was just misogyny or all of the other bs reasons as to why the one they wanted to win definitely lost. Quick break back with more Matt Canavan, Linda Scott after the break We've got plenty more to talk about as well, about insurance. We'll talk a little bit about the ghosts, but let's talk about the reality of do these polls show things have bottomed out for labor and they start to get better. If it's labor on seventy one seats and the coalition in the sixties, well then it would be labor for me, a minority government. That and a whole lot more, including yeah, some of the warnings and some of the hype in and around the tropical cyclone. Did everyone get everything right? No, But I saw it with my own eyes. I think a lot of people got most of it right, all right. Joining us right now, Matt canavan O car I have a champ on Mondays, which is no disrespect to Linda Scott, but I'm sorry that's just the way it ends up being. Now, there's plenty to talk about, but let's get into the newspole here, Matt.
I know you don't muck around here.
I think that a little bubble may have burst year about the assumption about how inevitable things were when it came to a change of government. Seven seats is not good for the stability of the country, but it results in a labor minority, not the Liberal Party negotiating for minority Liberal and National Party.
Yeah.
Well, look, Paul, I certainly haven't been saying it's an inevitability. I know some others out there have seemingly thought this has got and dusted, and I think the betting markets are way off.
I mean, this is very, very close.
The polls have been about this level for almost a year and a half now, basically ever since the end of the Voice or the wash up from the Voice anyway.
So look, it's going to be close. It's going to be very close.
It's a challenge for us to put forward an alternative set of policies when and if the well, when the campaign will we call worth expecting you to be in it this week, but it'll be called soon. But I do think the Colition has done a great job putting yourself in this position. I don't think three years ago we felt that it probably would have been as close as it is now. I think the government had a fair amount of hubris after being elected in a fairly thumping victory three years ago. They've been a bit blindsided by this and they really do seem lost at the moment, not being able to come up with a proper plan as a government for the future of this country. So, look, it's going on, but it could be anyone's right now.
Look this is it.
I mean, we all know what my preferences are, we my want is, and we all know how critical aim of the government. But I was really clear in the past couple of weeks about the fight, fight, fight, the messaging and the issues that have now become a bit of a distraction. As a labor person, Linda, do you feel a sense of confidence that it's not going to be a majority but it's not going to be a change of government either, if this poll is true.
I don't feel confident at all. I think there's two really important facts because this election will be historic no matter what happens. Two important facts. The first one is since nineteen fourteen, not a single first term opposition leader after a loss of government has gone on to become the Prime minister, So if Peter Dutton wins, it'll be remarkable first time since nineteen fourteen. Similarly, though, no first term prime minister has gone to an election and sought re election with a majority as narrow as the current Prime Minister has, So no matter what happens, this will be historic. And it's why I think it is so close. The polling is close. You talk to many a straight when I door knock, even in Sydney. You know there are people who support long term, wonderful local member Tania piv Set, But still people say, I'm you know, I'm undecided, I'm not sure. So those conversations that all the campaigners are having are changing minds, and I do think it will come down to who's got a really strong ground game, you know, who's got lots of volunteers, who's got people door knocking. These kinds of things in this election, when it's this time, are really going to make a difference.
Well, also, the last prime minister to win an election server Tom win another election. How in two thousand and four we've had twenty years when leadership or government changes. That's a big amount of history that is worth playing out. Or let's get to the tariffs and the Trump tariffs, and again let's also talk about the ghost as well. Matt the former Prime minister basically just trying us to be the leader of the resistance from the ABC studio or the pink house in Sydney. Okay, fine, fair enough. But if we're at this very precarious period of time, we're literally this week, the President will or won't decide to put a tariff on us. If the Premier of Western Australia is calling the Vice president a knob, the former prime minister is calling Trump a bully, the ambassador to the United States is dressing up stalking the President in January at a golf club as a meeting. This is not a good picture for the country because real people suffer.
The failure to build a bridge.
Even after he was elected in November, The idea that he wasn't on a plane between November and January to build a connection is going to hurt Australia.
Well, it's not helpful. None of these interventions are particularly helpful. I don't know if they'll be definitive. We saw the President's response to Malcolm Turble today, but I don't think it's going to matter all that much in the wash up. But Malcolm just can't help himself, Kenny. I suppose he can go away and frame that tweet. I wouldn't mind being roasted by Trump. It'd be quite an experience, wouldn't it to have a tweet about you by the President.
But look, let's get back to the real game here.
I mean, the real focus should be on protecting Australian jobs and Australian interests. I don't think what Malcolm is suggesting is in any way practical. I don't know, he's just saying, got to stand up to him, and what does that mean. I mean, the facts on the ground here of this case, right before us steal an aluminium, is that we got that exemption last time, yes, Malcolm was Prime Minister. The problem is that not long after we got that exemption, the industry, the Australian industry, broke a promise and expanded exports to the US. They promised that they would not take advantage of the discount, and they didn't follow through with that. I mean, I've suggested to colleagues and ministers in the government that, look, why don't we put forward a proposal that has more stringent requirements this time, But if we are to achieve another exec exemption, we could make it law or effectively a regulation to stop our exports expanding like it did last time.
We sort of did it on a.
Voluntary basis and it didn't work, so maybe we could try something more mandatory.
Yeah, I mean, Linda, again, you know, free speech, free citizens. Say whatever he wants, but he knows exactly what he's doing, and he knows that again, it's just about trying to keep a fraction of the spotlight at all times. But again, I mean, you know what it's like to talk to people that you disagree with, but the need to talk to them because you have to have a bridge. Now, Yes, there's been a couple of phone calls. Yes they've done their best, they say, but it doesn't seem like they have built enough of a bridge to be able to get the exemption. And I don't know that that ultimately comes down exclusively to Trump's pig gettedness. But certainly unless we visibly see the attempt to build a bridge, well then we just have to trust them.
They've been building one. I don't look.
I think firstly, Trump's got pretty thick skin. I mean, his own vice president compared him to Hitler and he made him the vice president. Still, so I think, you know, no matter what people say about Trump, He's going to do his job. I also think it is important to say that Australia has been building a bridge, and I think we should applaud the efforts of the government and the opposition to be fair, I mean, Matt Canavan, I think he's putting forward some suggestions this should be a bipartisan effort, a national interest effort to get these tariffs off Australian steel and aluminum. And I don't want to underestimate the efforts of Kevin Mnudd. He's been working round the clock to try and talk to the new administration, as has Heather rid Out in New York.
And I don't want it the Department of Fadril Foreign Affairs can't even name the date that he had the supposed meeting.
Then what he's doing is greasing. But the President.
She's over there in New York. She's talking to Trump's neighbors, you know, next to Trump Tower. She's working incredibly hard. As the former CEO of an employer group here in Australia. She's an incredibly influential Australian. This is a team effort right across the board, and I think we should acknowledge that. And I also I saw Bridget Mackenzie come out this week and say, oh, you know, Roger Cook's intervention wasn't very helpful. Bridgid, I know you just wanted to say the word Noel on television, Like, honestly, that kind of intervention is not helpful.
We should drink.
We should be working together. You can do your shots matter if you want to. I'm not going to that.
We should agree with that.
And I've supported Kevin right and I've said we shouldn't just sack him, let's give him a go. I hope he does really well. I' always offered to help put the Olid branch out there. Look, I do think it's unfortunately the Prime Minister or the Trade minister, but I mean maybe the Prime mister really should have gotten over on a plane and over to DC. I mean it's been it's been now five or four months since the only five months since the US election.
Actually just over five months exactly since the US election. I mean, I mean someone over there. I find that very strange. And other leaders have done that must all the leaders have done. That's been extra leader.
One hundred billion dollar US system that's growing to a trillion, talking about investments, like we lead, we can't here, but can get these tariffs.
But there are many workers trying to build a bridge. The one who can actually get it done is leader to the leader. We know that that's the relationship, that that is vital, and it just hasn't happened because you know, he'll never win. He'll never win, and then he does win, and okay, you know I can't possibly go and talk to him. Instead of talking to him, I have to talk to him after he's sworn in. All right, let's talk about cyclones in the past couple of days. I've got a lot to say, but I'll try to bite ma tongue about this sense that nothing happened and it was just overhyped and it was all.
Like I sat there, I lived it. I was in it all? Right? Was it cyclone Tracy?
No one person died, hundreds of thousands of people lose their power, People were being pulled out of the water, there was rescues happening, door knocks.
How is this not enough for people?
Instead we turn around and say, oh, well the media, this is the media that Matt.
Look again, I am glad. I totally again didn't turn agree with you. I think Lardie anyway.
I think you're right about the impact.
I suppose the issue was that the media built up the cyclone for days and look, who cares when they're picking a bit. But the history of this stuff in Brisbane and Southeast queens And is that the winds and ever that destructive. It is always the following rain. That's what happened with Cyclone Wander in nineteen seventy four. No one even remembers the name of that cyclone Wander. Everybody in Brisbane remembers the nineteen seventy four floods, which is what happened just after.
Cyclone Wander went through, and the depression afterwards.
So you know that was always the issue was going to be the flooding, and that's what we've seen that enormous damage and risk of people lives, amazing rescue efforts by our emergency services that deserve.
All the applause. And look, I would just add too, Paul I.
Up here in North Queensland, I suppose a few of us are wondering and scratching our heads why people went off work for three or four days. I mean, my son goes to university down there. They haven't been had lectures since Tuesday last week and there was like four sunny days in Brisbane and that just seems strange. I mean, we go through cyclones all the time up here. We went through a Cap five cyclone here ten years ago, and your Poune I can't remember people taking almost a week off work. It's not a chip against Brisbane. I do think we're in this malais post COVID that sort of we have these preemptive lockdowns as if that's going to fix things.
How small businesses have been hurt by this because you know.
They lose business when people don't go out and don't work and there's no compensation package for them.
Look, that's absolutely fair.
That's a fair point about you know, whether Thursday or Friday. But in terms of the overall history that basically this is going to be written off as nothing by a whole group of people. Not you, Matt, but a whole It's just not the case, right, And I, of course am not justifying that I went there in the media and it was bigger than I And yes there were some reporters that go too far. I'm just telling you when you can hear the how, you see the brain and you see the floods, something happened, right. But Linda, I wanted to talk to you about with your sort of former experience in and around local government, it seems like Queensland councils are more empowered or even better organized than other councils around the world. Where the country not the world. Where their mayor give briefing that's just as detailed as the premiers, but he's able to get down to streets and suburbs. The publicly available information is down to streets and streets and suburbs. I think the way they manage this in Queensland should never be taking the granted and should be replicated around the country.
Yeah, I think it is a very very good system. I agree with you, Paul. I do also want to just acknowledge that, Matt. I love that only in Australia does a far north Queensland to go. Mate, that's not a site you should anyway.
It's well, it's a fly, it's not a see.
I get it.
But look, I do think the Queensland mayors are full of compliments for Premier Christal fully and I do really want to call that out. And I think the level of collaboration between the Commnwealth Government, the Prime Minister, the Premier and the Council's has actually been magnificent. This poor premier, he's on the other side of politics. To me, it's his second natural disaster in a very short time. He's been talking to them regularly.
You know.
The feedback I'm hearing from Queensland mayors is that it's gone as well as it possibly could, given how difficult a natural disaster it has been, and that mayors have been because they know their local area so well, able to you know, advise the public, as you say, Paul, when's streets are closed, when schools can be open, and there's been that really nuanced approach which I think works incredibly well. I also want to call out since we had the floods in northern New South Wales in twenty twenty two, when local members like Janelle seven had to dive off her own veranda, literally go around rescuing her neighbors and swim out. We've got a national Emergency agency that has been a really big deal and that helps to coordinate across the different federal agencies to bring support. The other thing that has dramatically changed is that we long advocated for prevention funding so that councils could get some funding retrofitter, surf club, maybe as an evacuation center, or build a flood levee to prevent the impact of these dangerous weather events from climate change on impacting homes and local infrastructure. The prevention money has been critical. That had been a recommendation of a Royal Commission in Australia twenty thirty years ago and it was implemented by Mari. What it means counsels can invest in prevention infrastructure and that is going to save lives and it's going to save homes and properties and that's a big deal. It's a really big deal.
Yeah.
So Matt, I've got sixty seconds, so I want to what are the lefty states. Circle back, go back to what you were saying about, you know, when you shut things down.
I think there is just this.
Very fundamental idea here that we've got to deal with, which is it is the responsibility of everyone to maintain normal life for as long as humanly possible until something gets in the way of it.
But there is a very very.
Large number of people who love and I'm talking about the public who love the lockdown, who demand it goes longer.
I think that's I love it. I love the lockdown, but they do love. Yeah, I love the lockdown. I got you know, you can I go to the backyard here. It was fantastic. It was a beautiful time. But it's not right, you know, and we've got to get out of this malaise. Look at our productivity through the floor. And this is only a small aspect of this, but we effectively shut down our third largest city for three or four days last week. Transport wasn't working, People couldn't get from to and from work. The situation should be if you have a risk to you and your family and your property, sure some reasonable time off work to deal with that is and should be available. But this mass society wide lockdowns. It makes no sense. And as I say, the real victims of this are the small business cafes, the shops. They get nothing, they get absolutely nothing. They've got to pay wages, they've gotta pay rent, and they're in the whole thousands of dollars over the past week.
And I don't think that's right. We need to reflect on that.
Yeah, well, will look and while they shut down the schools, there are so many examples of the people who just keep powering on right, like literally, you know, it didn't matter where we were. The cleaners, the people who work in the hotels, the people who work in the surveys, they were there all the time. Even you know a few people in the gig economy as well. So you know, I see you, and I think they should be rewarded as well. But again, the maximum opportunity for everyone to stay up. And thank you, Linda, Thank you. Senator.
All right, quick break back when I want to talk.
About insurance now again the Prime Minister and politicians, ah, you know, we should they must pay up, and of course they should pay up. But how do we either change the system to force it, or is there a limit to the ability to tell the insurance company to do it. But talk about that with somebody who knows way more about it than me. A few dumb questions, but smart answers coming up next. All right, insurance, the politics, the politics, the politics are the Prime Minister definitely not playing politics today while he was out and about talking about insurance and why the companies must pay. But of course isn't he in a position to pass a law and make them pay.
The insurance companies need to do the right thing. They have a social license and people expect them to make payments in a speedy and effective way. We're hoping, of course, that they do the right thing. If not, we'll give consideration to any measures that are required.
Right between Orange and Wellington, just checking the map. Here in central western New South Wales a wonderful city called Molong, a lovelier town, and joining us from there right now is.
A lawyer who has helped her community.
She won the New South Wales Regional Woman of the Year, and Kirsty Evans is her name. Kirsty, you have been right in the heart of this nexus between what the companies will do, what the customers demand, and how the law works in and around all of this. Put simply, can we change laws to four companies to lower their threshold that they have to.
Pay out on?
We can pass laws to hold insurers to account. There are standards that they set themselves and they are not meeting their standards. We have seen this time and time again. We had an inquiry about it and we have not yet seen effective change.
So give me an idea.
Is this something that state and federal parliament needs to do or this is something that we can start to put a bit of pressure on both sides going into an election to start to talk about can this be done at a federal level?
Absolutely, it absolutely can, and we need that change to occur. We had eighty four recommendations come out of the Parliamentary Inquiry and some of them, if they are mandated that is made to hold insurance to account, can affect change. But as recently as a couple of weeks ago, we saw the Insurance Council of Australia come out with you know, changes the federal government can make. So it's left hand finding the right here they're all around in circle and no one is doing anything to move this forward.
So we're in a situation where obviously the financial interest versus the political imperative. I don't know why the regulator, that being the federal government wouldn't be trying to choose the opportunity to take care of the policyholders, not the interests of the industry. What are the excuses as to why they won't try to introduce what these inquiries, what yourself, what common sense would tell you, should be the rules of the road.
Look, absolutely, we've seen changes where despite giving evidence, despite homeowners policy owners showing up in inquiries and saying that they've lost everything, and then a finding of misconduct or delay by the insurance being spoken about by the Economics Committee, we're still not seeing anything enforced. Gives all of these homeowners who are now in this situation to think, am I going through this struggle again? Am I going to be here in two years still fighting tooth and now for every dollar that I'm owed under my policy? And frankly, it's just not good enough for the Australian public because what we're seeing is a secondary trauma when insurers lodge their insurance, lodge their claims and then they're ultimately denied. You know, just a few weeks ago we had the Corporate Governance Committee issue one hundred thousand dollar penalty to ensure to an insurer for I think you know upwards to thirty complaints about their conducted acclaim, but then they're refused to name the insurer. Naming the insurer provides that transparency and allows customers to think with their feet and change. But at this moment, we're still providing a safe haven and loopholes for insurer to escape their responsibilities.
So for the people that have gone through what they've gone through this weekend, part of your response to natural disasters has been to do hundreds of hours of pro bone I work recognized as I said in that awards the U South Wels Regional Woman.
Of the Year. Do you want more lawyers to do what you did?
Do you want more people to reach out to lawyers and ask them to do it? Somebody who's watching us right now, who might just feel it's going to be a little o them versus fifteen floors of the law firms of an insurance company, what should they do?
That's a really great question, and I have kind of an overall thing for everyone from the top end of town to the individual. So top end of town these are your big corporations. They're going to have their own private claims preparation specialists come to these towns and prepare their claims on their behalf. They're going to cut out the middleman of the insurer, so the insurer's loss adjusters and they're insurers. Hydrologists will be put to the side, so the top end of town can get their own loss of justters in that will fast track their claims. Well, what that does is it removes all claims preparation specialists and removes them just for the top end of town. So what I would like to see is someone from these big companies reach out to a family business in the community and say, whilst our claims preparation specialist is in town, we're going to claim. We're going to prepare your claim as well.
You're I think that that.
Is a real, real impact that can happen. So I've called out a few people for that and I really hope that we can have that happen. And then as we move to small to medium and sorry.
No iet, my apologies, I've run out of time, but Kirsty, you're coming back and we're talking longer, and we're going point by point, because I think that.
Obviously you've lived it, you've helped.
People, and I want to make sure that we can get some of your ideas. Pressure, pressure, pressure, because while everyone else will be distracted what they what they want to talk about, they're going to be forced to do what we talk about. Thank you, mate, appreciate it. We'll see you again tomorrow. That's our show for tonight. We'll see you again tomorrow. Plenty more here on Paul Murray Life.
Tonna
